I just saw the synopsis for Half Sick of Shadows, and there's time travel involved! WTF, man? I thought that the rules, saying that the laws of physics had to be the same as ours, meant that time travel and other stuff wasn't allowed in it.

Dammit! That means that there were so many more stories I could have written for this damned competition, but didn't because I thought they'd violate the rules.

Okay, I've gotta think about this, and see whether there is anything that I can write...

BTW, some good news for people who know about my literary endeavours. Well, good news, not so good news, and good news.

The first bit of good news is that I have finally, after 144 drafts, completed a full draft of the novel I was originally going to do for the TP Prize back in 2010. It's very different, but I have managed to get something together.

The not so good news is that, frankly, the second half is partly crap, the first half is okay but creaky, and the whole lot (but especially the second half) needs substantial revision. But it's a start to finally completing this novel, now and forever, Amen Hallelujah peanut butter. And I know what direction I want to take it.

The second bit of good news is that I also have, finally, a workable concept for a TP Prize novel that is interesting enough to engage my creativity. Research begins tomorrow!

Every author, no matter how successful, has to do a certain amount of re-writes and revisions when it goes to editorial - getting the whole plotted and in some semblance of shape is the hardest bit in a way as you don't always know how your ideas will sit together all the way through. Well done for getting this far and as you don't hold with The Lady try to enjoy this consolidation phase - research can be very rewarding and can give you m ore inspiration to improve what you already have

"Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.” George Bernard Shaw

Thanks. I don't believe in luck when it comes to writing. Except the bad kind (I'm more of a fervent believer in Finagle's Law, if anything ).

I began the revisions last night. The relatively easy part, the first 20,000 words of the novel, has just been done, although I might want to add some nunaces (for flavour) later. I found some blatant errors and corrected them (artefacts of changing the novel from a third person viewpoint to a first person viewpoint, incidentally, and copying and pasting sequences from older drafts), changed a minor plot point. Now comes the hard part...

Good news on revising the first novel. I've finished a much better draft. I'll need to do some revision, and maybe extend it a little (as it is, it's more of a novella than a novel), but it's workable.

However, I am having less luck for a novel for the TP Prize. I currently have two ideas under consideration, but not much luck with either...

Good news, as noted on another part of the forum. I have already begun a new novel for the TP Prize, based on a concept I was kicking around for a while. I've written the first five chapters, plus a prologue, and am working on the sixth. In all, I've written nearly 17K words so far, and the momentum hasn't been lost yet.

More good news. After a potentially fatal SNAFU with a sub-plot, I went back and started again, albeit with my usual copy-and-paste restructuring. Not only have I made one of my key characters a little better, but the sub-plot feels a little less slapped together. I'm now approaching the 40K words mark: halfway there as far as the minimum is concerned.

BTW, does anyone even bother reading this thread when I post? Don't be shy, post...

I read it, there's often just not much to add. I wish you every success in this. We have several friend who are published authors and know how difficult it can be. It's not just a case of coming up with a good idea for a story, the actual writing process isn't easy and getting published is other thing altogether.

“Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions.” – Blaise Pascal

I know. People should stop asking authors where they get their ideas from. It's putting ideas together which is the real knack. And I don't know where to find a proper agent. At the moment, I have only a few avenues for publishing, and this is probably my best chance to get right to publishing and get some moolah into the bargain.

Of course, the advantage is, if I do win the TP Prize and they want me to write further books, I have at least one completed book (albeit the first installment of a series) ready for publication, and I only have to do some revisions on the one originally conceived for the TP Prize.

And yeah, you're right, it's not like there's anything you can reply with...